The firearms drill is very long and boring. It is not as "passionate" as a cavalry charge. It means firing big cannons, firing small cannons, firing muskets, firing crossbows, and then loading, firing, and reloading as orderly as possible, and so on. Make a loop.
Guo Kang's only requirement for them is to be as stable as possible.
He imitated the "cheats" in his adoptive father's hands and broke down the processes of loading, aiming and shooting various firearms into the most basic movements. In order to prevent the soldiers' lack of education or unclear expressions, they also deliberately drew out all the moves according to the tricks in the secret book.
Normally, he would take his soldiers and practice these movements against the models of artillery and muskets every day, just like doing exercises. Don’t stop until everyone can do it with their eyes closed.
Among them, the artillery firing techniques are the most complex. Guo Kang found many skilled gunners and officers, modified and tested it many times, and finally settled on twenty-eight basic movements. Everyone also nicknamed it "Guo's Twenty-Eight Shocking Styles".
Guo Kang didn't ask how fast they were. After all, firearms these days are just so slow. No matter how much time you grab, they won't get any faster. Instead of pursuing those few breaths of time, it is better to try to do all the movements in place.
He even actually found a water-powered clock that could play drums at regular intervals, moved it to the venue, and watched everyone follow the rhythm.
This kind of mechanical clock-like movement seems quite boring to Li Xuanying. He soon couldn't stay any longer, so he ran to a nearby haystack and lay down, unwilling to move.
Guo Kang took a pen and counted while recording. Realizing that Li Xuanying had just slipped away, he had no choice but to get up and try to pull him back.
"What are you looking for me for?" Li Xuanying complained a little about this: "Can't you just watch them practice repetitive movements there? Do you need me to watch such basic skills?"
"During this period, I am no longer practicing basic skills." Guo Kang pointed out: "I have started practicing distance calculation and position adjustment."
"I don't think they're all the same?" Li Xuanying obviously didn't believe it.
"The hit rate is much higher than before, can't you see?" Guo Kang was a little surprised.
He flipped through his notebook and read: "Three months ago, all the artillery crews here fired a salvo, firing a total of 36 shells an hour. For the area occupied by a common 500-man formation, the average hit was 1.89 rounds. This month, All the old-fashioned guns were replaced and the gun mounts were modified. Currently, it can fire an average of 41 salvos per hour and hit 2.93 rounds."
"The main problem is that the gun is not good, the loading is too slow, and there is something wrong with this batch of gun barrels. The observation post said that the ballistic curve is not in line with the prediction, and the end drop is very abrupt. I have adjusted the shooting table, and I expect that this time I can increase the hit expectation to 3.73 rounds. Above. Of course, if you want to obtain the actual blocking effect, you still need to try..."
"Okay, okay, stop reading." Li Xuanying quickly stopped him: "It sounds like my head is spinning. You are fighting like an arithmetic problem. I don't think I can help..."
"Why can't I help?" Guo Kang turned the note to another page: "The conventional marching speed of the infantry on the battlefield, the conventional marching speed of the cavalry on the battlefield, the charging speed, and the time to cross the trench. Different artillery carriages The ability to move includes common plains and mud in Eastern Europe, mountainous areas in Asia Minor, and sandy areas that may be encountered..."
He saw that Li Xuanying was about to faint again, so he had to end the topic: "Anyway, these were all tested by Tuo Huan before. Now he is very busy, so it's your turn."
"Then you call me when you really need my help." Li Xuanying began to bargain: "You have someone to watch and you have the energy, but I don't. I just practiced with the little princess for a long time, and I am exhausted. Let me Let’s talk after a while.”
"Who is looking at me? Why are you looking at me? I don't know how to spray cannonballs from my mouth." Guo Kang disagreed: "Look at the cannon."
"Hey, you still don't understand." Li Xuanying shook his head and said: "Zhu Dajia really likes these iron guys, but the princess doesn't understand artillery. You have been pretending to shoot here for a long time, and I can't stand it anymore, you Guess why she can keep watching? You don’t think she really comes to watch the gunfire, do you?”
"Well……"
"Okay, let me rest for a while." Li Xuanying continued to lie down and ignored him.
Guo Kang had no choice but to complete the daily bombardment test by himself, and only called him up when he started to move. The people advanced slowly in a formation with carts on both sides and artillery carts in the middle.
This time, they brought two more trench bridges in the team, which are large vehicles used to build bridges. Because the so-called "plain" terrain is actually not flat at all, it is normal to encounter various pits and ditches in the wild battlefield.
During the last drill, Guo Kang misjudged a natural soil slope, causing a long cannon to flip over the ditch. Afterwards, it took several cows to pull it out.
In this case, the infantry and cavalry can walk directly over, but the artillery vehicles are very troublesome. Sometimes you can go around it, but sometimes it's a waste of time and you might as well just build a bridge over the ditch.
Of course, the load-carrying capacity, span, and maneuverability of the trench bridge need to be calculated. Guo Kang was prepared in advance, but the scene was still very busy.
Guo Kang still has no permanent staff, so he basically has to figure out everything himself. After finally delivering the artillery truck to its destination and firing the target in time, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then felt that he was even more tired than Li Xuanying.
He sent someone to inform the tower that the drill was over and everyone could come down.
Theodora saw that he was a little tired, but before she had time to comfort him, Zhu Wenkui came over with a notebook he didn't know where to take out, and without even saying hello, he started talking to Guo Kang. to data.
Theodora was quite dissatisfied, but both of them were preoccupied with cannons and had no time to care about her for the time being.
Zhu Wenkui questioned Guo Kang's artillery matching, believing that large artillery and small artillery should not be allowed to march together, as this would slow down the speed too much.
Guo Kang believes that it is more reasonable to match firearms with different ranges and sizes, but Zhu Wenkui believes that weapons that cannot be brought to the battlefield do not exist. Field warfare is not about siege. Instead of using a heavy artillery with a range of three miles and taking one hour to operate, it is better to bring a light artillery with a range of one mile and take twenty minutes to operate, and then push it in front of the enemy.
As for the heavy artillery, there is no need to worry about letting it go too fast, just stay behind and scare each other with the enemy. Zhu Wenkui believes that this kind of weapon mainly plays a psychological role. In field battles, its actual killing ability is very limited, and it is basically a matter of luck.
Its main effect is to give soldiers the idea that "we can fight back" - because being beaten and unable to fight back is a very demoralizing situation, even if it does not cause many casualties. Apart from this, there is no need to think too much, because according to calculations, after the entire battle, the lethality of heavy artillery is far inferior to that of front-line light artillery.
Guo Kang could not accept this and believed that there was something wrong with his algorithm. He did not consider the impact of position on the performance of artillery, and underestimated the true killing effect of heavy artillery.
The two then began to recalculate on the spot, leaving Theodora unable to get a word in at all.
To make matters worse, Jeanne rode the pig and came back from nowhere.
She said that she had just found a high place and had been watching the drill here. Although she had never calculated it before, she seemed to have a good understanding and could sum up Guo Kang's intentions and estimate the approximate results. Therefore, she successfully joined the discussion directly.
In order to facilitate the description, she pushed Theodora aside and began to draw a diagram on the ground.
Theodora tried to join in, but Jeanne thought she was in the way and said that Nurhachi knew artillery better than she did, so she asked her to stay aside. Just like that, he successfully squeezed her away.
Theodora was furious, but she really didn't understand this. Moreover, Guo Kang is indeed very busy now and doesn't even have time to talk to her. Forcibly interrupting him at this time would probably make everyone unhappy.
At this time, Li Xuanying yawned and passed by.
Theodora turned around and found that everyone was very busy. Even Captain Jashka and Brother Zelik were climbing up and down the chariot to inspect the equipment.
Theodora became more and more angry, so she turned around and scolded Li Xuanying.
(End of chapter)
